Card holder



G- J. HALTON CARD HOLDER Filed July 22, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. BEL a1 d. J. Hall'un.

' ATTORNEYS.

G. J HALTON CARD HOLDER Aug. 13, 1940..

Filed July 22, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGQ3.

FIG. 4.

' INVENTOR. E ernalcl J. Hall'cln ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 13, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 cr am.

' This invention relates to improvements in card holders particularly well. adapted for use in playing card games that require classification and correlation of a series of individual cards, as dea termined by draw, to form hands of associated cards.

In one of these games, twenty-five consecutive cards are arranged one by one to form five longitudinal and five transverse rows, and the ability of a player to associate the cards of the ten rows in predetermined relationships determines the score or value of the twenty-five card hand. Inasmuch as each card must be irrevocably disposed in a selected relation to said longitudinal l5 and transverse rows before succeeding cards are drawn, the relationship of the cards and value of the hand will tend to vary in accordance with the skill and judgment of the player.

In previous card holders that have been designed to hold conventional size playing cards, arranged in longitudinal and transverse rows of five cards, the size of the holders has been so great as to preclude the convenient placement of four of the holders on an ordinary card table designed for the use of four players. The provision of card holders with transverse rows of adjacent pockets for the reception of only minor end portions of cards in overlapping rows does not materially reduce the area required to properly hold the cards, and is objectionable in that a card placed in one pocket will overlap and tend to shield the entrance of an adjacent pool;- et, whereby to interfere with placement of a card therein. The primary object of the present invention is to provide a card holder which will facilitate the classification and correlation of conventional playing cards of the type having pips and value delineations at opposite diagonal corners of each card, in a compact area, to form longitudinal and transverse rows of cards. By compact area reference is had to the area occupied by the twenty-five cards placed in the holder in overlapping relation so as to essentially display those portions containing one pip and value delineation of each card.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a card holder having pockets arranged to hold cards in longitudinal and transverse rows, 50 with the cards of longitudinal rows side by side and of transverse rows overlapping, in a manner to not interfere with the placement of cards in the holder. This is accomplished by arranging the pockets so that when a card is-in its 55 selected pocket it will not cover the mouth of an adjacent pocket, thus enabling a person to quickly determine the location of a vacant pocket and conveniently use such vacant pocket when desired for the reception of another card.

Other objects and advantages of the inven- 5 tion will be apparent from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of the card holder. 10

Figure 2 is a back view of the card holder, with the back plate partly broken away and scoring discs removed to expose interior details of construction.

Figure 3 is a sectional view looking towards the 15 inside of the back plate and showing the scoring discs rotatably carried thereby.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the card holder with legs extended to support the holder in a slightly inclined position upon the card table. 20

In the drawings, which for the purpose of illustration show only a preferred embodiment of the invention, it generally designates the card holder including elongate front and rear plates H, l2 of similar polygonal shape. In the 5 example shown, the plates ii, 112 are octagonal in outline, including longitudinal edges 55, end edges l6 and corner edges ll. These plates may be formed of suitable plastic material, as by molding, or they may be out from sheet material, such 30 as cardboard.

Extending thru the front plate H are slots 2!), of a length substantially equal to the width of an ordinary playing card 2! and forming five parallel longitudinal rows and five parallel transverse rows, with delineations 22 defining the transverse rows. Formed in the upper side edge 15 is an elongate notch 23 of a width substantially equal to the width of five ordinary playing cards. Extending between the upper 1 longitudinal row of slots 20 and the notch 23 is a panel 24, for displaying suitable indie-la, such as a trade-mark. Extending between the lower longitudinal row of slots 20 and the lower side edge I5 is a panel 25, for displaying suitable indicia, such as pictorial representations of horizontal rows of related cards and a tabulation of their values.

Referring now more particularly to the pocket means 26 shown in Figures 2 and 4, the same preferably comprises a sheet 21 of flexible material, such as paper, provided with overlapping plaits 28 forming a series of pockets therebetween. These plaits comprise alternate sections 29 of a width substantially equal to the length of an ordinary card and intermediate sections 30 between the alternate sections of a width more than one-half the length of an ordinary playing card. Preferably the plaits 28 are secured, as by adhesive 3|, to beveled portions 32 at the inside of the front plate adjacent the slots 20. If desired, the plaits 28 may be held in parallel overlapping relation at each side of the sheet 21, as by a reinforcing patch 33 secured to the plaits with adhesive 34. I

Rotatably carried interiorly of the rear plate l2 overlapping score discs 35, may be provided each having an annular series 36 of numerals from zero to eighty. In the example shown, two pairs of overlapping discs 35 are provided, each disc including an axial boss 31 disposed in a cylindrical socket 38 in the rear plate 52. Each pair of discs 35 preferably is disposed at an end of the holder with segments 39 thereof projecting beyond the end edges I6 of the plates. Disposed intra-marginally of the front plate end edges [6 are rectangular sight apertures 40, and by rotation of the discs 35, each series 36 of numerals may be adjusted to expose any numeral thereof to view thru an aperture 19. In order to facilitate manipulation of the discs 35, the peripheries thereof may be provided with serrations 4|.

Interposed between the front and back plates at the corners thereof spacer blocks 45, are preferably provided fixed therebetween as by adhesive 46. These spacer blocks are of a thickness substantially equal to the combined thicknesses of pocket means 26 and overlapping discs 35 so that upon assembly of the card holder, the pocket means 25 will frictionally engage the overlapping discs 35 to prevent accidental displacement of the discs.

On the inside of the back plate I2 is an elongate spacer strip 4'! preferably provided to prevent sagging of the pocket means 36 between the discs 35. The inside of the back plate may also include a beveled marginal portion 48 adjacent the upper side edge l5 thereof.

At each end portion of the back plate l2 there may be secured, as by hinge A9, a leg 59, swingable into and out of an elongate slot 5!; Upon extension of the legs 50, the card holder may be supported in an inclined position, as shown in Figure 4.

In order to secure the front and back plates H, I2 in assembled relation, a strip 55 of flexible sheet material, may be secured, as by adhesive 56, along the margins adjacent end edges l6 and the lower side edge l5. This strip 55 may be provided with slits 5'! intermediate its side margains thru which the discs 35 may extend with the exposed segments 39 projecting therefrom, and notches 58 aligning with the sight apertures 40 of the front plate.

There may be provided an additional pocket 60 for holding a conventional pack of cards in a manner to permit easy selection of a specified card therefrom. This pocket 60 may include a section 6! secured with plaits 28 to the front plate, and a portion 62 secured as by adhesive 63 to a suitable finishing strip 64 that is folded over the upper side edge 15 of the back plate and marginally secured thereto, as by adhesive 65.

In the utilization of the card holder, a conventional pack (not shown) of playing cards is sorted into the different suits, or otherwise associated for convenience in selecting a specified card therefrom, as by arrangement of the pack of cards in a relatively wide pocket 60. Successive cards are announced as drawn one by one from a shufied pack, and as each card is called, a corresponding card, one of which is shown at 2| in Fig. 1, is transferred from the pack disposed in pocket 60 to a selected slot 20, until all the slots are filled, whereupon the value of the hand is computed by noting the pips and value delineations exposed to view and totaling the individual values of each of the five longitudinal and five transverse rows of cards in accordance with a predetermined table of values.

By providing overlapping plaits 28 comprising alternate sections 29 of a width substantially equal to the length of an ordinary playing card, and intermediate sections 30 of a width substantially equal to the length of a major end portion of an ordinary card, the disposition of the conventional playing card 2|, as shown in Figure l, in any slot 20 of the holder, with the major end portion thereof between adjacent plaits 28, will not interfere with placement of a succeeding card in a slot 20 thereabove. The specific arrangement of the overlapping plaits 28 therefore provides for the classification and correlation of successively announced cards in longitudinal and transverse rows, with the cards of longitudinal rows substantially side by side and of transverse row:- overlapping in a most compact manner such as to not interfere with the placement of cards in the pockets formed between adjacent plaits.

Various changes may be made in the form of invention herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A holder for conventional playing cards of the type having pips and value delineations at two opposite diagonal corners of each card, comprising an elongate body portion, adapted to be arranged in front of and with one of the longitudinal edges nearest the player, and pockets carried by said body portion for the reception of twenty-five of said cards arranged in five overlapping rows of five side-by-side cards each, the entrance to the pockets of the intermediate rows being spaced from the entrance to the pockets of adjacent rows a distance less than one-half the height of said playing cards, the depth of said pockets being more than one-half of the length of said playing cards and the bottoms of the pockets of intermediate rows being spaced from the bottoms of the pockets of adjacent rows 2. distance less than one-half the length of said playing cards whereby the twenty-five cards may be selectively and securely held in the holder with only the minor portions exposed to permit viewing the pip and value delineations on one of the corners of each card.

GERALD JOSEPH HALTON. 

